AT Hike #9: PA - Pine Grove Furnace State Park: Pole Steeple/AT Loop

A climb up to Pole Steeple overlook in Pine Grove Furnace State Park seemed like a great way to ring in the New Year for First Day Hike (which was actually delayed a week due to heavy rain on the 1st) so the day after our first snowstorm, my niece Amy and I ventured out. We combined the Appalachian Trail with Pole Steeple Trail and the old Trolley Line bike trail for a seven mile loop.  Adding this loop to my hiking project to day hike the AT through PA, this sweet little circuit makes for hike #9 and #1 for the 2022/52-Hike Challenge. 

White blaze on white snow

From my last loop hike that started and ended at the Camp Michaux parking area, this hike picks up where I left off after completing the short leg of AT that continues a mile down to Pine Grove Furnace. We parked at Fuller Lake and got right back on the AT literally in the parking lot and hiked north from there. The snow was fluffy and not quite half a foot deep and we were among a small group of outdoorsfolk who had ventured down some icy roads to explore the park the day after the storm. Everyone was chatty. Dogs were friendly. The bathroom was open! Off we went following the white blazes along Mountain Creek and up the mountain at the gated forest road a mile upstream.

My niece Amy on the AT as it runs along Mountain Creek

AT cuts straight through Pine Grove Furnace State Park and offers AT hikers a few opportunities to take a break here. The hiker's hostel - the old iron master's mansion (see video below) now managed by the AT Museum at Pine Grove offers simple bunkbed accommodations, hot showers, and a shared kitchen. This time of year, though, the AT Museum and General Store which is the site of the famous AT hiker's half gallon challenge ice cream  challenge are closed. Tom's Run Shelter is south of us while northbound hikers look forward to the great little trail town of Boiling Springs that offers food and lodging options for winter AT hikers. 

Happy new sign!

Up and up we went through the sparkling snowy forest.  Blue cloudless skies overhead and not a hint of wind, the woods were bathed in the golden light of January sun.  It was on this section of the AT many years ago that I encountered my first Hognose Snake and I remember sitting right down next to him in the middle of the trail to sketch his phenomenal patterns while he had a hard time deciding whether to flip over on his back to play dead or continue lay still for a ten minute sketch session. I have always loved snakes and some of my best encounters have been on the AT sitting alongside them sketching. Timber rattlers, copperheads, black rat snakes, hognose, ring-necked, garter, racers, northern water snakes - all have had their portraits done on the AT. 

Amy navigates the snowy stone steps to the summit.

I wanted to take a minute and that thank the trail crews that maintain the trails in Pine Grove Furnace State Park - I've met a few of the great Friends of Pine Grove Furnace and staff - they are amazing. The new trail signage, well-kept kiosks and well-stocked map/brochure boxes, crisp blue blazes on the Pole Steeple Trail, and the incredible work on the heavy stone steps on the knob and trail show so much dedication. Thank you!

Double ledge summit of the knob

So much for a snowball toss - too dry!

View from Pole Steeple 

Our views included several lakes which are all flooded ore and limestone quarries that supplied the iron furnace operations at Pine Grove.  Looking across the low mountains was spectacular and the winter sun warmed us nicely on exposed ledges of quartzite. The knob of tilted ledge tilted skywards, its slanting stone blocks the result of the mountain-building crunch of continental collision that grew the Appalachians.  The knob, a familiar geological erosional feature of the Appalachian range, stood proud against the blue sky.  As we discovered, the promontory was claimed by a pair of ravens who made their presence known as we hiked down the approach trail to the road below. We wondered if they were near a nesting ledge that will hold raven chicks come spring?

Needle ice from a charcoal pit

We explored several large charcoal hearths, flat areas known as "pits" (but they are not pits).  We descended the winding Pole Steeple Trail and they were easy to find as great white disks of snow- covered flats on the steep slope. We used our poles to pry just under the snow and leaves to find needle ice extruded from the black soil below.  Needle ice forms when the soil temperature is above freezing while the air above soil is well below freezing. The soil moisture is pulled upwards in delicate columns through capillary action making beautiful curls and ribbons of ice. Needle ice here was black with charcoal dust.

An easy-to-spot charcoal "pit" or hearth on the slope (two tents had been here in the snowstorm)

The underlying geology of the Pole Steeple knob is quartzite, a resistant rock common along the AT and through the southern PA landscape. Knobs form when less resistant rock types are eroded out of place leaving quartzite ridges and boulder fields. Frost action was the main erosional process following the retreat of glaciers north of here, when the region was both wet and frigid. Frost shatter caused rocks to split apart as trapped water froze inside crevices and cavities. Frost shatter leaves a unique jagged appearance on quartzite that stands above the landscape in columns, dagger-like fins, or "teeth," often visible for miles atop the ridges in winter.

Quartzite exposed on the ledges showing the angular erosion patterns of frost action

Looking up at the knob from Pole Steeple Trail

Our descent to the paved road below was graced with the croaking ravens and the company of a very few fellow hikers, all pleasant and happy to see each other. This is one of the best parts of hiking for me - reconnecting to people as fellow explorers, nature nerds, and positive souls. Maybe this is one of the reasons I am devoted to hiking. I am always restored by the kindness. Everyone takes a few minutes to talk, share their stories (and their dogs!), and happy regards. Hiking connects us in deep ways to each other and the land and I always come home feeling uplifted by those I've met on the trail and by the places I've walked.

Forested swamps.

The road ended at the gated forest road and we completed our loop. We rejoined the trolley rail-trail and wandered past a forested swamp where the ponds looked like they were about to ice over. We stopped to pet some wonderful dogs and chat with their owners, all hikers. We had a great visit with a Boiling Springs High School teacher and her bouncy pup Buddy. She looked tired from teaching (virtually and in-person in this crazy second covid year) but she was positively glowing with happiness that she managed to get a few hours hiking in on this day. "Man, anytime I can get out here - especially in the snow - it's just the best therapy for me. There is nothing better for heart and soul."  Truth. 

Notes:

Pine Grove Furnace State Park  https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/PineGroveFurnaceStatePark/Pages/default.aspx

Info for AT hikers in the Pine Grove Furnace area https://www.atmuseum.org/directions-lodging-and-shuttles.html that includes shuttles, hostel, and area lodgings near Boiling Springs and Carlisle, PA

YouTube! Iron and Charcoal Industrial History at Pine Grove Furnace State Park: